The handsome attendant with his flashing smile and interesting accent warned us it was crooked. Amidst chants of Please Mommy and We dont care if it is crooked, I paid him the $25.00. Supposedly, he gave me a bargain because of the twisted trunk that made the small tree look like it had spent its life tenaciously clinging to an overly steep slope in strong winds before ending up on this corner lot. I needed the romance of a good back story this year, because buying a tree simply because I could lift it by myself and I thought it would fit into my car without having to be tied to the roof reminded me too much of not sharing this task with a man.
I managed to wrestle the tree into the back of my car, filling it with pungent orange fir-tree smell. This smell always reminds me of my last single year when I lived in the mountains behind Los Angles, up near San Gorgonio. Not the smell actually, but the taste of fir needles. I taught biology at an outdoor science school there, and one of my hikes led past a pathetic little fir tree. Fir needles, like oranges, are a good source of vitamin C. I dont think the tree appreciated the necessity of so many people learning this fact hands on. But whether it liked it or not, at least twice a week for almost nine months, I would stand in front of it and crush one needle between my teeth and encourage others to do the same. Its good to know what to eat if you are ever starving in the woods. I have a list of plants that fill this category. I have to explain to friends that they arent necessarily good to eat, meaning something you might enjoy during a nice walk after all fir needles are still just fir needles but if the next step is death, well, fir needles are a good source of vitamin C.
My girls and I carried our bent, crooked, little vitamin C filled tree into our house. We managed to get it to stay in the tree stand with it only falling on my eldest daughter once. Even with our best efforts for it stand up straight it still shot out several degrees off center. I had just launched into my I told you so speech, mostly at myself for thinking I could do all this alone, when my youngest daughter exclaimed Its perfect!
It is?
Yes. Everyone else has a straight tree but ours is better cause its different.
Yeah, it fits us. My other daughter agreed. And its more interesting the way it sticks out and bends.
Its sort of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
We love it mommy!
I wont bore you with tales of happy songs by the tree that came next, but I will say I think Im doing ok by myself. And I feel much better knowing that now if we get lost in our living room at least we have a good source of vitamin C.
I managed to wrestle the tree into the back of my car, filling it with pungent orange fir-tree smell. This smell always reminds me of my last single year when I lived in the mountains behind Los Angles, up near San Gorgonio. Not the smell actually, but the taste of fir needles. I taught biology at an outdoor science school there, and one of my hikes led past a pathetic little fir tree. Fir needles, like oranges, are a good source of vitamin C. I dont think the tree appreciated the necessity of so many people learning this fact hands on. But whether it liked it or not, at least twice a week for almost nine months, I would stand in front of it and crush one needle between my teeth and encourage others to do the same. Its good to know what to eat if you are ever starving in the woods. I have a list of plants that fill this category. I have to explain to friends that they arent necessarily good to eat, meaning something you might enjoy during a nice walk after all fir needles are still just fir needles but if the next step is death, well, fir needles are a good source of vitamin C.
My girls and I carried our bent, crooked, little vitamin C filled tree into our house. We managed to get it to stay in the tree stand with it only falling on my eldest daughter once. Even with our best efforts for it stand up straight it still shot out several degrees off center. I had just launched into my I told you so speech, mostly at myself for thinking I could do all this alone, when my youngest daughter exclaimed Its perfect!
It is?
Yes. Everyone else has a straight tree but ours is better cause its different.
Yeah, it fits us. My other daughter agreed. And its more interesting the way it sticks out and bends.
Its sort of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
We love it mommy!
I wont bore you with tales of happy songs by the tree that came next, but I will say I think Im doing ok by myself. And I feel much better knowing that now if we get lost in our living room at least we have a good source of vitamin C.
VIEW 12 of 12 COMMENTS
suzy_kabloozy:
I love that story. Kids are the best for putting perspective on things. 
lunacat:
Nicely told.